LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Go-Ahead Group Plc. (GOG.L), a provider of passenger transport services, said that it reaffirmed its full year expectations. The Group has delivered revenue growth since the start of new financial year.
In a trading update for the period from 1 July 2018 to 28 November 2018, the company said that London bus continues to deliver strong Quality Incentive Contract income; Southeastern continues to perform very well; improved operational performance at GTR.
The year to date growth rates in the announcement was for the period from 1 July 2018 to 27 October 2018.
During the period, revenue and passenger journey growth in regional bus have been ahead of recent trends helped by the better summer weather. Revenue was up 3 percent in regional bus, with passenger journey growth of 1.5 percent.
The company expects regional bus profit for the first half of the year to be lower than the same period last year but that this will be offset by a stronger performance in the second half, reflecting a contribution from EYMS and the impact of the severe winter weather in the comparative period last year. Accordingly, for the full year, it continues to expect regional bus operating profit to show a slight improvement over last year.
The company noted that its continued improvements in operational performance have resulted in strong Quality Incentive Contract income for the period. Mileage and peak vehicle requirement were down as expected because of contract losses during the last financial year. As previously disclosed, this is expected to result in London bus profits for the full year being lower than last year. Capital expenditure will also be significantly lower than last year which will increase free cash flow generation.
Elodie Brian has been appointed interim Chief Financial Officer starting on 3 December. She has spent over 10 years with Southeastern, latterly as the Finance and Contracts Director, and is very familiar with the Group's business. The recruitment process for a permanent new Chief Financial Officer continues.
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